PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA) for the financial year 2012.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision 2014/581/EU of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the CFCA for the financial year 2012.

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants discharge to the Executive Director of the CFCA for the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2012.

This decision is in line with the European Parliament's resolution adopted on 3 April 2014 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 3 April 2014).

Amongst the main observations made, Parliament called on the Agency to reduce the amount of carry-overs which were particularly high in 2012 (carry-overs 2012 to 2013).

The European Parliament adopted a decision concerning the discharge to be granted to the Executive Director of the European Fisheries Control Agency in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2012. The vote on the discharge decision approved the closure of the accounts (in accordance with Annex VI, Article 5(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2012 are reliable, and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 510 votes to 66, with 16 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations that form an integral part of the discharge decision and as well as the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies.

These recommendations are summarised as follows:

Budget and financial management : Parliament noted that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2012 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 96% and that the payment appropriations execution rate was 83%. Commitments and carryovers : it noted, however, that the level of committed appropriations carried over to 2013 was high for administrative expenditure at 35% and operating expenditure at 46%. This was due to a large extent by events beyond the Agency’s control, such as the late invoicing of the 2012 office rental costs by the Spanish authorities. An other important reason for the high level of carry-overs was the considerable workload faced by the agency as a result of the large number of IT projects that were either launched or ongoing in 2012 and this workload had an impact on the timeliness of procurement procedures in the case of two IT projects launched in 2012. Performance : Parliament requested that the Agency communicate the results and impact its work has on European citizens in an accessible way, mainly through its website.

It also made a series of observations on transfers, procurement and recruitment procedures as well as comments on internal controls.

Lastly, Parliament acknowledged that the Agency will assess its policy on the prevention and management of conflicts of interests on the basis of the Commission's Guidelines on the Prevention and Management of Conflicts of Interests in EU Decentralised Agencies. It called on the Agency to inform the discharge authority of the assessment results once available.

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Petri SARVAMAA (EPP, FI) in which it recommended the European Parliament to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Fisheries Control Agency in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2012.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2012 are reliable, and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Members approved the closure of the Agency’s accounts. They made, however, a number of recommendations that needed to be taken into account when the discharge is granted, in addition to the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies.

Budget and financial management : Members noted that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2012 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 96% and that the payment appropriations execution rate was 83%. Commitments and carryovers : Members noted, however, that the level of committed appropriations carried over to 2013 was high for administrative expenditure at 35% and operating expenditure at 46%. This was due to a large extent by events beyond the Agency’s control, such as the late invoicing of the 2012 office rental costs by the Spanish authorities. An other important reason for the high level of carry-overs was the considerable workload faced by the agency as a result of the large number of IT projects that were either launched or ongoing in 2012 and this workload had an impact on the timeliness of procurement procedures in the case of two IT projects launched in 2012.

Members also made a series of observations on transfers, procurement and recruitment procedures as well as comments on internal controls.

Lastly, they acknowledged that the Agency will assess its policy on the prevention and management of conflicts of interests on the basis of the Commission's Guidelines on the Prevention and Management of Conflicts of Interests in EU Decentralised Agencies. They called on the Agency to inform the discharge authority of the assessment results once available.

Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2012 and the balance sheet at 31 December 2012 of the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA), as well as the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2012, accompanied by the Agency's replies to the Court's observations, the Council recommends the European Parliament to give a discharge to the Executive Director of the Agency in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2012.

The observations in the Court of Auditors' report in relation to the financial year 2012 call for some comments by the Council, which may be summarised as follows:

in general, the Council welcomes the Court's opinion that, in all material respects, the Agency's annual accounts present fairly its financial position as at 31 December 2012 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of the Agency's Financial Regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the Commission's accounting officer, and that the underlying transactions for that financial year are legal and regular. Procurement : the Council encourages the Agency to improve its financial management by launching procurement and reimbursement procedures in good time before the end of the budgetary year and to subsequently limit carry-overs of appropriations to the following year to the minimum necessary, in line with the budgetary principle of annuality. Recruitment : moreover, the Council invites the Agency to further enhance the transparency of its recruitment procedures, to systematically inform candidates on complaint and appeal possibilities, and to ensure full respect of staff selection criteria.

PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) for the year 2012, together with the Agency’s reply.

CONTENT: in accordance with the tasks conferred on the Court of Auditors by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Court presents to the European Parliament and to the Council, in the context of the discharge procedure, a Statement of Assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts of each institution, body or agency of the EU, and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them, on the basis of an independent external audit.

This audit concerned, amongst others, the annual accounts of the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA).

In the Court’s opinion, the European Fisheries Control Agency ’ s Annual Accounts fairly present, in all material respects, its financial position as of 31 December 2012 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer.

The Court also considers that the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year ended 31 December 2012 are, in all material respects, legal and regular.

The report confirms that the Agency’s 2012 budget amounted to EUR 9.22 million.

The report also makes a series of observations on the budgetary and financial management of the Agency, accompanied by the latter’s response. The main observations may be summarised as follows:

The Court’s observations :

· budgetary management: the Court notes that the high level of committed appropriations carried over to 2013 was caused, to a large extent, by events beyond the Agency’s control, such as the late invoicing of the 2012 office rental costs by the Spanish authorities. On operational expenditure, an important reason for the high level of carry-overs was the considerable workload faced by the Agency as a result of the large number of IT projects that were either launched or ongoing during 2012. This workload had an impact on the timeliness of procurement procedures in the case of two IT projects launched in 2012.

The Agency’s reply :

carry-overs: the Agency indicates careful consideration will be given to each new project with a view to optimising its lifecycle, in order to avoid carryover of significant amounts.

Lastly, the Court of Auditors’ report contains a summary of the Agency’s activities in 2012 . This is focused on implementation of the Joint Deployment Plan cod fishery in the North Sea,

Skagerrak, Kattegat and the Eastern Channel and Western Waters and JDP cod and salmon fisheries in the Baltic Sea. The Agency also carried out:

mapping study on information systems supporting fisheries controls in the EU ; operation, maintenance, enhancement and development of ICT monitoring capa­bilities: Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), Electronic Reporting System (ERS), Fishnet ; support activities to fight Illegal unreported and unregulated fisheries.